Developing for Accessibility

Make products usable by everyone.

Why Accessibility

Accessibility refers to making a website or application available for all users regardless of method of access or ability. U-M is legally required to make applications and information accessible for the campus community. Other universities have been sued for failing to comply.

Accessibility can also improve usability and findability for everyone.

Getting Started With Accessibility

Guiding Principles

We are committed to ensuring the information technologies we create, support, or procure are effective, available, and usable for all people:

  • We should ensure that the Information Technology, web resources, and related content we develop and maintain comply with the forthcoming U-M SPG on accessibility, along with any other internal or external requirements.
  • We should ensure that the IT products and services we procure comply with the forthcoming U-M SPG on accessibility, along with any other internal or external requirements.
  • If a user reports accessibility problems with a product provided by ITS, we should prioritize providing an accessible solution for the user.
  • We should publicize the availability of assistive technologies to members of the U-M community.
  • For any new services we release, we should publish accessibility statements that express a commitment to accessibility, describe known accessibility issues with the service, and offer a means for users to provide related feedback.

In addition, we are committed to promoting the concept and principles of Universal Design so that our products and environments are usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. For example, we want to make sure our information technologies are usable by people who speak English as an additional language and people with varying levels of computer experience.

Campus Resources

Coding

Coding for accessibility is approached in two ways:

  • Designing and developing tools following accepted accessibility standards to decrease issues for people with disabilities.
  • Creating tools compatible with commonly used assistive technologies.

Testing

Testing for accessibility is done in two ways:

For more information, please contact the Accessibility team at:

[email protected]

Resources for Accessible Development